Shell feeding mechanism for rocket guns



27 1948. c. F. Hx-:NNEY 2544,34

SHELL FEEDING MECHANISM FOR ROCKET GUNS Filed oct. 14, 194s Patented Apr. 27, 1948 SHELL FEEDING MECHANISM FOR ROCKET GUNS Charles F. Henney, Dayton,

Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a

corporation oi' Delaware ApplicationOctober 14, 1943, Serial No. 506,147

4 claims. (ci. fzs-1.1i

This invention relates to ordnance and more particularly to an improved rocket gun and shell feeding mechanism.

One object of this invention is to provide a lightweight rocket gun and shell feeding mechanism.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved gasket arrangement for sealing the gun barrel after the shell has been inserted into the barrel, i

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved conveyor mechanism 'for feeding the shells or projectiles into the breech oi the gun.

A fu'ther object is to provide a shell feeding mechanism that is made in sections.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a special holding means for holding the shells in place within the breech of the gun.

Another object is to provide a shell feeding mechanism which may be used on a plane and which is capable of operation irrespective of the angular position of the plane.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, panying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearlyshown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is intended to show, somewhat diagrammatically, the shell feeding mechanism and' is a sectional view taken on line i-i of Fig. 2 with parts broken away so as to more clearly show the shell conveying mechanism;

Fig. 2 is on a reduced scale and shows a plan view of the gun and shell feeding mechanism with the cover of the shell feeding mechanism removed; v

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a. fragmentary sectional view showing the gasket construction used for sealing the joints in the gun barrel.

Rocket guns of the type shown herein may be used on stationary mounts or they may be mounted on aeroplanes or the like.

' Referring now to the drawings, reference numeral I designates generally the barrel of a rocket type gun and reference numerals I2 and I4 designate the breech jaws which open up to admit a new projectile into the gun barrel. Reference numeral I6 designates the exhaust portion of the rocket gun whereas numeral I8 designates the forward end section of the gunbarrel. The Jaw sections I2 and Id are pivotally mounted on reference being had to the accom- 'pins 20 and 22 respectively which are carried by the stationary part of the gun barrel as shown. In a gun in which the overall length is approximately 13 feet, the sections I4, I6 and I8 should be about 3, 2 and 8 feet long respectively.

A reciprocating locking bar 24 which is provided with a plurality of locking pins 34 locks the jaws in the closed position during firing of the gun, The locking bar 24 is slidably mounted in the guide blocks 26 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The jaws I2 and I6 are provided with a plurality of apertured projections such as 30 and 32 respectively which receive the locking pins 3d so as to lock the jaws in the closed position.

Reference numeral 36 designates a projectile Within the barrel of the gun which is readyvto be red. Reference numeral 38 designates an electromagnet mounted in the wall of the gun barrel for holding the projectile in proper position within the breech portion of the gun barrel. The projectiles are of standard construction and include magnetic casings which may be held in 'place before firing by the electromagnet 38, The

shell receiving section of the gun barrel is preferably made of cast aluminum and when using aluminum or other non-magnetic material for the shell receiving portion ofthe gun barrel no special means need be provided for preventing the magnetic ux from short circuiting through the gun barrel itself. However, if the g'un barrel is made out of magnetic material the poles of the magnet must be shielded from contact with the barrel by means of inserts of non-magnetic material.

While it is desirable to use an endless chain for conveying the shells into the gun when used on certain types of aeroplanes so as to provide a curved conveyor capable of conforming to the shape of an aeroplane wing, it is impractical to use the chain to convey the shell all the way into the gun. A conveyor having two shell feeding mechanisms has therefore been used which includes a, carriage -or transferring the shells which have left the endless lchain 46, such as shell d2, into the gun barrel. The shells it located on the endless chain d6 are held in proper relationship by means of the main frame 86 and the Y transverse rods such as 48 carried by the links of the endless chain. Sprockets 50 are provided for the chain mechanism as shown. These sprockets are driven by means of a suitable drive motor 52 which may be of any conventional construction and which is directly geared to the shaft 56 on which a pair of sprockets 50 are mounted.

After firing the projectile 38 which is disposed within the gun barrel, the jaws I2 and i4 are unlatched and are moved into the open position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1' so as to receive the next shell- 44 mounted on the carriage 40. The carriage 40 is supported between a pair of racks 04 driven by the pinion 66 on the shaft of the motor 62. The carriage 40 is provided with two sets of shell engaging pawls and 12 which hold the shell in proper position on the carriage 40. The shells are prevented from moving upwardly by means ofthe main frame structure as shown in Fig. 1. In transferring a shell from the carriage 40 into the gun, the carriage moves toward the gun and in so doing will at one time occupy the positioxin which it is shown in Fig. 3. As it moves from this position to a position closer to the center line of the gun barrel each of the plungers 14 remains stationary, thereby compressing the springs 18. As the carriage 40 moves forward, the shell 42 pushes the pawls 12 along with it until the pawls slide down the cam surfaces 18 so as to move out of the way of the shell thereby allowing the shell to move into place within the barrel. 'I'he magnet 38 then holds the shell in place and by reversing the direction of rotation of the motor 62 the carriage l4|| is moved away from thegun barrel so as to -allow the breech jaws to close and so as to place the carriage in position to receive another shell from the-endless chain 46. The breech jaws may be manually operated or may be operated by a motor (not shown).

When the carriage 40 has returned to its normal position away from the gun, -the motor 52 is energized just long enough so as to move one of the shells 44 onto the carriage 40. Each of the pawls 10 is pivotally mounted on a. pin 80 supported within recesses in the carriage 40 and is free to pivot about the pin 80 so as-to allow the shell to move over the pawls in the forward direction of movement of the shellv only. A torsion spring 02 biases the pawls 10 into proper shell engaging position so as to pushthe shell forward along with the carriage 40 in the one direction. As a new shell moves onto the carriage 40 from the feed chain mechanism 46 the pawls 10 pivot about the pins 80 so as to allow the next projectile to move into place between the pawls 10 and 12.

The forward end of the carriage 40 is recessed as at 4I so as to make it possible for the forward edge of the carriage 40 to move right up against the stationary part of the gun barrel in which position the pawl 12 moves into the recess 4I. A guide rod 1| limits the forward movement of each pawl 12 as shown in Fig. 3. The inner end of the guide rod 1| is free to slide into the recess 13 provided in the carriage 40 as the carriage moves closer to the gun barrel.

While I have shown specific pawl constructions it is apparent that other types of pawls may be substituted for the pawls shown without departing from the spirit of my invention so long as the pawls are capable of properly holding the shell in place during the forward movement of the carriage 40.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the shell feeding mechanism includes a first frame structure designated by the reference numeral 84 which is preferably secured directly to the gun barrel and a second frame structure designated by the reference numeral 86 which is secured to the frame structure 84 by suitable fastening means such as the bolts 88. When all of the shells have been fired from the gun the shell feeding mechanism is reloaded by removing the end guide plate which allows one to place three new shells on the chain feeding mechanism 46. The motor 52 is then energized so as to move one of the three shells onto the carriage 40 after which the carriage is moved forward so as to feed that shell into the gun barrel where it is held in place by the electromagnetic means 38. The carriage 40 is then returned to its normal position after which time the motor 52 is again energized to move a new shell into the carriage 40. The motor 52 is then reversed so as to return the feed chain 46 to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 1 and then two additional shells are placed on the chain feeding mechanism and the guide member 90 is replaced so as to prevent any end play of the shells. Suitable guide means such as the guide element 92 diagrammatically shown in Fig. 2 cooperates with the member 80 to prevent the Ashells from moving sidewise on the conveyor chain.

Since the pressures developed within the gun Abarrel are very high it is necessary to provide a substantially gas-tight seal for the jaw sections |2 and |4. In Fig. 4 I have shown on an enlarged scale the seal provided for this purpose. As shown therein, a recess |00 is provided in the one member and is adapted to receive a rubber-like gasket element |02 which is adapted to be engaged by the projection |04 constructed -as shown so as to compress the gasket |02. It will'be observed that with this arrangement any gas 'reaching the gasket |02 will have turned several sharp corners before reaching the gasket. It will further .be observed that the circular gasket |02 makes contact at several points along its periphery. The gasket |02 is purposely made large enough so as to require considerable deformation when the jaws move into tight engagement with one another.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed constitutes a. preferred form, it is to -be understood that other forms might be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims which follow. y

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a rocket type of gun, a barrel having a projectile receiving breech opening in a side wall 0 thereof, closure means for said opening comprising a pair of movable-jaws, projectile conveyor means for feeding projectiles into said breech opening, said conveyor means comprising a, pair of aligned portions including a curved portion and a straight portion, said curved portion comprising an endless chain for conveying projectiles arranged in side by side relationship on said chain onto said straight portion, said straight portion comprising a. reciprocating projectile supporting carriage means having one end movable into and out of a position between said jaws when said jaws are in the open position soA as to deliver projectiles through said open jaws? 2. In a rocket type of gun, a barrel having a projectile receiving breech opening in a side wall thereof, closure means for said opening comprising a pair of movable jaws, projectile conveyor means for feeding projectiles into said breech opening, said conveyor means comprising a, pair of aligned portions including a curved portion and a straight portion, said curved portion comprising an endless chain for conveying projectiles arranged in side by side relationship on said chain onto said straight portion, said straight portion comprising a reciprocating projectile supporting chains between said bars, said carriage means having one end movable into and out of a position between said Jaws when said jaws are in the open position so as to deliver projectiles through said open jaws. and magnetic means carried by said barrel for pulling said projectiles oil from said carriage means as said carriage moves away from between said jaws.

3. In a rocket type oi gun, a gun barrel including a stationary portion having a projectile receiving breech opening in the side wall thereof and breech means for closing said opening, projectile conveyor means for feeding projectiles into said breech opening comprising a pair of aligned portions including a exible chain portion and a carriage portion,` said ilexible chain portion comprising a pair of parallel endless chains having projectile engaging bars extending between said endless chains at spaced points along said chains for supporting projectiles at right angles to said carriage portion comprising a reciprocating projectile supporting member arranged to transfer the projectiles from the end oi the iiexible chain portion through said breech opening.

4. Mechanism for feeding shells into the barrel of a gun comprising in combination, a movable conveyor, front and rear shell positioning pawls projecting from said conveyor, cam means for forcing said front paw] upwardly into the path of a shell in one position of said conveyor so as to limit movement oi the shell relative to the conveyor, said cam means being arranged to engage amas crr ille of this patent:

a portion of the gun barrel thereby moving said cam means relative to said front pawl so as to allow said iront pawl to move downwardly out or the path oi' the shells carried by said conveyor thereby allo said conveyor to move a from said barrel without ma gnap from the as chanies r UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 20,229 Utley May 11, 1858 231,652 Coloney Aug. 31, 1880 282,553 McLean Aug. 7, 1883 389,983 Smith Sept. 25, 1888 487,380 Seabury Dec. 6, 1892 789,885 Schneider May 16, 1905 811,797 Schneider Feb. 6, 1906 1,294,240 Cooke Feb. 11, 1919 1,314,801 Hanzlik Sept. 2, 1919 1,332,763 Schneider Mar. 2, 1920 1,852,401 DeCamps Apr. 5, 1932 1,907,342 Capell May 2, 1933 2,167,703 Wilseys Aug. 1, 1939 2,293,957 Wells i- Aug. 25, 1942 2,326,794 Nordquist Aug. 17, 1943 i FOREIGN PA Number Country Date 19,438 Great Britain June 12, 1913 164,464 Ge Nov. 16, 1905 207,855 Great Britain Dec. 4, 1923' 333,208 France 1..----- Nov. 19, 1903 395,555 France Jan. 4, 1909 832,464 France July 4, 1938 The a on ,page a5 of Popular Me- 

